Ghana voters ID card: registration, verification and replacement
Exercising your right to vote is very important. It is therefore in order that you have the your voter's cards and ensure that your registration details are verified. Did you misplace your voter's card just after the previous election? To actively participate in nation building choosing your leaders is key. We all wish our country the best and making sure that the leader's are efficient requires that we participate in general elections. Read on to know more.
Ghana voters id card is a key document that each Ghanaian that is 18 or above and plans in voting in any Ghana national election, although those declared insane are disenfranchised. However, for Parliamentary candidates to get voters ID card registration in Ghana must be a Ghanaian citizens at least 21 years old, and either be resident in their constituency or have lived there for at least five of the ten years prior to the election.
A good citizen should have Ghana national voter’s ID card this shows that you do care about your country and that whoever you chose to represent you follows the will of the people. Though, the primary purpose of voter’s id card Ghana is to improve accuracy, prevent multiple voting, prevent voter impersonation and prevent ballot stuffing.
Who qualifies to be registered?
There are three categories of people to the constitution of Ghana allows to register to vote which are as follows
1. All Ghanaian citizens (by birth, registration, or naturalization) currently resides in Ghana.
2. All Ghanaian citizens living abroad.
3. Foreign nationals legally/permanent residents in Ghana.
Anyone in any of the three categories mentioned above also requires to have the qualities below.
-A person who is a citizen of Ghana
-A person who is 18 years of age or above
-A person of sound mind
Biometric voter registration
In the 2012 elections the Ghanaian electoral board decided that the easiest and most effective way to register voters would be through the use of Biometric kits . According to the HSB identification website who were the official suppliers of this biometric kits about 4000 BVR kits were bought to facilitate the exercise.
According to Ghanaweb report, Ghana registered and verified approximately 13 million people for an election within 48 hours, breaking the world record previously held by India for 3.5 million people. Ghana’s world record-breaking accomplishment comes after the country successfully completed an election using biometric voter verification and registration systems. The 2012 election marks Ghana’s successful sixth election since returning to Constitutional rule in 1992.
Biometric verification registration is difficult to implement, specification and procurement processes are lengthy, training of operators and data processing are complex and lengthy processes putting a lot of pressure on the EMB to produce the list in time. Most countries eventually fail to implement the biometric verification of the voter which renders the entire exercise questionable plus the shaky legal grounds on which these exercises often are often taken place open ample room for complaints.
Today, biometric technology on election day has continued to advance, even beyond the function of verifying a voter’s identity. Today’s Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs) can also transmit the voter tally from each polling station to the electoral commission.
A lot of people are wondering how can one get voters id cards download simple log onto the Macheki website to check if your name is included in the list of people who have been removed. For those who don't know what Machecki is don't worry we have you covered, it is an identification management and verification system designed by a team of young Ghanaians.
But why go through that process on How to check voter id number in Ghana if you are registered as a voter and want to confirm that, send a text with your ID number to 6363. You will get details with your name, registration date, voting center, it doesn’t matter where you are.
This process is to save the electorate time and to give them a convenient and fast way of knowing whether their details captured on the voter roll are right or wrong.
Listed below are the Steps to Follow When Applying for a Duplicate Voter ID Card
A duplicate voter ID card is one of the most important documents issued by the government to its citizens
- Visit the electoral office nearest to your place of residence and collect a copy of Form EPIC.
- Which is the application form for duplicate voter ID card.
- Fill in the form with the relevant details such as name, address, voter ID card etc.
- Attach the required supporting documents and submit the form at the electoral office.
- On submission, you will receive a reference number that you can use to track the status of your application.
- Your application will be verified by the Electoral Officer and on successful verification, you will be issued with a duplicate voter ID card.
- You will be notified regarding your application being processed and can collect your card in person from the electoral office.
Advantages of voter identification cards include the following:
- It's reliable form of identification
- It acknowledgment that voter is duly registered
- May include several identifying features, such as photograph, signature, fingerprints,
- Provide greater assurance voter is who he/she purports to be
- May be marked when voter has obtained ballot, and thereby prevent multiple voting
- Can be designed in response to low literacy rates
- Can be an effective form of identification where many voters have no fixed address
- Facilitates voting in areas where voter may not be known personally
- Can be issued along with material in a voter education campaign
Disadvantages of voter identification cards include the following:
- Cards can be very costly to produce, though cost varies significantly.
- The identification card can be lost or stolen, some voters will arrive at the voting station without their card. Procedures must be developed to respond to this situation.
- Cards must be produced with electricity and when the power is not available at the registration and card-issuing sites, a cold laminate can be used to seal the cards, or if necessary, no laminate at all.
- Cards must be updated periodically. Cards will wear out over time and the pictures on them will become dated. Thus, there is a need for a system of regular replacement.
- The election authority must have a reliable system of delivery of ID cards, in order to avoid any difficulties.
List of polling stations in Ghana
The Electoral Commission (EC) has released the final list of polling stations for the 2016 general elections. With a total of 28,992 centers across the country, the Ashanti Region has the most polling stations with 5,190 stations for electorates to cast their ballots while the Upper West Region has the least stations of 991.
Below is the regional breakdown
Final number of polling stations in each region
- Ashanti 5,190
- Brong Ahafo 2,963
- Central 2,482
- Eastern 3,243
- Greater Accra 4,762
- Northern 2,688
- Upper east 1,226
- Upper West 991
- Volta 2,506
- Western 2,941
- Total 28,992
Voting process step-by-step procedure
A lot of people may not know this but a registered voter has to show up at their voting location with their identification card and an official will process their documents that they will present before voting. This implies without this documents you will not be allowed to proceed to the other steps where you are identified by the Biometric voter’s registration identification.
The order of appearance is determined by the EC in an open vote before printing of ballots. A voter is expected to mark their ballot in secret behind a voting privacy screen.
Let's be honest here a good citizen of any country should have a voter’s card number this shows that you do care about your country and that whoever you chose to represent you follows the will of the people. Though, the primary purpose of voter’s ID card Ghana is to improve accuracy, prevent multiple voting, prevent voter impersonation and prevent ballot stuffing
The voting process
- On the election one should to go to the polling station with correct documents, your voter’s id card sample and join the queue if there is any at that time you have arrived.
- A polling assistant will check your particulars in the name reference list.
- The officer will verify the voters ID card online verification with biometric machine to check if one is eligible to vote or he had applied for the card.
- One will be given a lot papers please be careful when checking if it has marks kindly call for an assistant but if there are no marks on it ensure it has a validating stamp.
- Make your way to the voting Booth and thumbprint correctly your choice of candidate.
- Cast your vote in the Presidential Ballot Box.
- Proceed to the next Polling Assistant for a Parliamentary Ballot paper.
- Proceed to the Voting Booth and thumb-print your of choice MP, cast your ballot in the parliamentary ballot paper.
- Cast your ballot in the parliamentary voting box and make sure, it’s in the right box or it will be rejected.
After all that you are required to please leave the Polling Station but you can return at 5 pm for counting after voting is complete.
Ghana voters ID card sample
Ghana voters ID card sample is necessary for the election process one must be structured to ensure that only legitimately registered individuals vote and that everyone who appears at the polls to vote are in fact who they claim to be.
With the use of Ghana voter’s id card registration reduces the problem of forgery, the card itself is a tear-off portion at the bottom of the registration form and contains the same pre-printed voter registration number as the form itself. It would be virtually impossible, therefore, to produce forged cards or steal blank cards since the name and identification number must appear on both the card and the voters list before anyone is allowed to vote.
READ ALSO: Political history of Ghana in brief
Simply checking the Voters ID card online verification Ghana is not enough, but the use of the cards are issued for the most part at the time of registration using a cold lamination process rather than one that requires electricity.
Advantages of Biometric voter registration.
Accurate records are also used to identify which forms were issued to which polling stations. And fingerprinting, both on the registration card and the detachable registration form, is an additional security measure implemented in Ghana.
Biometric voter’s registration is Faster and build trust it helps the citizen to get results with hours instead of weeks.
It increase engagement and turnout especially for others countries, with technology it will be a useful way of improving voter education and registration, to increase engagement and voter turnout.
Increases accessibility for those who don't know Electronic voting is very good at making voting more accessible, meaning it’s easier for disabled people to vote independently.
Electronic voting that is visibly secure it helps people see that our electronic voting system is completely secure. If anyone was able to hack into the system, there would be a discrepancy between the electronic count and the paper count.
Biometric voters registration is auditable, transparent, secure and accurate- in Ghana automated elections mean that people can trust the results because it allows for a process that is so auditable, transparent and secure. Of course, electronic voting also helps reduce human error.
Possible causes of BVR failure in Ghana
Inadequate training skills-this occurs when the government didn’t dedicate much time in training the employees oh how to operate a system and method to solve in case an error has occurs. Inadequate training of users might make the system look faulty therefore expert system analysts suggest that users be given proper training before an organization embraces a new system.
Poor fit between organization and system-this occurs when majority of pooling station are in the rural area where accessing network and electricity is hard.
Faulty hardware -this occurs when the kits are purchased and the government didn't bother to check them this will bring to tension in the country.
Ghana usually hold their elections in November but in 2016 the government decided to postpone the date until December 7th 2016 where they elected a president Nana Akufo Addo of the opposition side New Patriotic party for the third time defeating John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress. The president is elected for four term by the people.
Ghana has 275 constituencies. Each Constituency is represented by a Member of Parliament (MP). Ghana’s parliament has the power to hold the other arms of government accountable,
Parliament also approves government policies, for instance the Ghana government is obligated to put before parliament for ratification all international agreement before it enters into any such agreement.
READ ALSO: How to write a manifesto for student election in Ghana
Source: YEN.com.gh
